Commons:Photo challenge/2026 - January - Brutalist architecture

2026 – January – Brutalist architecture

The new challenge features Brutalist architecture and Soviet modernist architecture.

Ideally, each submission should contain a summary description of the subject in the file information, including the location of the subject, and relevant categories should be added to the files to enable other Commons users to find them and use them. Please take care not to violate copyright in respect of non-free creative works, and observe our educational project scope and the personality rights of identifiable people, or your files may be subject to deletion.

The challenge will remain open for submissions throughout January UTC.

Checklist for this theme:

• Photographs must be the work of the nominator.
• Photographs must be newly uploaded to Commons during the challenge submission period i.e. January 2026 UTC (but may have been taken earlier).
• Submissions must be added to the top of the "Entries" section below.
• Please do not nominate lots of similar photos; instead choose just your best and most varied images.

Add your entry between the <gallery> tags as indicated. Gallery entries are placed each on a new line, and consist of the filename, a vertical bar |, and a description. For example:

Electric steam iron.jpg|An electric steam iron

For help on the syntax of entries in a gallery see Help:Gallery tag. Please do not add square brackets [[ ]] or include a thumb parameter or the full URL. The File: prefix is not required, but harmless.

• Restriction: A maximum of four entries can be submitted per photographer.

This challenge has already ended. (refresh)

• Photo challenge/2026 - January - Brutalist architecture/Voting
• Photo challenge/2026 - January - Brutalist architecture/Voting/Result
• Photo challenge/2026 - January - Brutalist architecture/Winners

Examples

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Entries

Submit your photos

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  Gordon Wilson Flats, Wellington, New Zealand
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  Main facade of the Centro Roberto Garza Sada designed by Tadao Ando, in Monterrey, México.
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  River City designed by Bertrand Goldberg, in Chicago, USA.
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  Centro Roberto Garza Sada (The Gate of Creation) designed by Tadao Ando, in Monterrey, México.
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  Interstitial spaces within the Centro Roberto Garza Sada designed by Tadao Ando, in Monterrey, México.
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  Former Gosford Council Chambers, NSW, Australia
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  The Turkey and The Moose: Robarts Library and the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Toronto
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  Robarts Library and the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Toronto
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  Newly designed prefabricated housing estate in Berlin-Friedrichsfelde
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  Superjednostka apartment block in Katowice, Poland
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  The Staudenhof in Potsdam, Germany, was a notable example of East German (GDR) modernist architecture with distinct brutalist elements, built between 1971 and 1972.
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  Olympic Village in Munich, Germany
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  Standard residential high-rise building in East Berlin
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  City Hall in Bonn, Germany
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  Former embassy of Czechoslovakia.
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  Haus der Statistik, built 1968 in Berlin with reinforced concrete
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  Norrköping City Library.
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  Habitat 67 à Montréal, Québec. Moshe Safdie architecte.
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  Former embassy of Czechoslovakia in Stockholm, built 1970-72.
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  Entrance to the Barbican Estate, yellow-black safety bollards in the foreground.
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  Salters' Hall in the City of London.
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  Architectural detail on The National Theatre in London.
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  Entrance to The National Theatre on the south bank of the Thames.
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  Bunche Hall at UCLA, a Brutalist building with a characteristic concrete grid facade.
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  Blick in den Himmel im olympischen Dorf
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  Blick auf die Hausfassade eines Hochhauses im olympischen Dorf
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  Department_of_Statistical_Sciences_MFI_offices_University_of_Toronto3]]
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  National Library of Estonia
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  Red-walled building in Macau
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  Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University
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  University of Otago Science 2 building, framed by the Archway tunnel and a solitary lamp post.
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  Entrance to toilets. Looks like a prison cell.
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  Nestled between trees, the wooden bench offers some respite from the unfeeling concrete.
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  Most common view of the infamous Archway Lecture Theatre at the University of Otago, New Zealand.
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  brutalist church in Muttenz, Switzerland
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  Brunswick Main Station, Lower-Saxony, Germany
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  Innsbruck Mariahilfpark, Austria
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  Townhall Brunswick, Lower-Saxony, Germany
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  Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Japan
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  Hochhäuser des olympischen Dorfs in München
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  Здание ЦНИИ РТК (робототехники) в Санкт-Петербурге, Тихорецкий пр. 21.
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  Brutalist church
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  Brutalist church
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  Entrance to the Rock Church in Helsinki
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  Supermarket and residential building in a central street of Barcelona
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  Coolbet - Casino and betting shop at Tallinn Harbour
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  View of the Eurostars Grand Marina Hotel in Barcelona seen from the cable car
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  Staircase of the Sutton Hoo viewing tower in Suffolk, England
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  Library of the University of California in San Diego
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  Bell tower of the catholic church in Ottenheim, Germany
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  The University of Canterbury's Central Library; Puaka-James Hight.
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  The interior staircase of Puaka-James Hight; Central Library of the University of Canterbury.
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  UC Central Library Puaka-James Hight, rear view.
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  The interior accessibility elevator of Puaka-James Hight; Central Library of the University of Canterbury.
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  Residence Inn by Marriott Washington - Washington D.C.
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  Campbell Park Offices (Australian Government Department of Defence), Canberra, Australia
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  Campbell Park Offices (Australian Government Department of Defence), Canberra, Australia
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  Sporthalle Schwäbisch Gmünd
  Sports hall Schwäbisch Gmünd
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  Architettura brutalista a Roma, Chiesa dodecagonale Santi Sette Fondatori
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  The main building of the South Ural Agricultural University. Built in 1961.
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  Narutowicza 16 Annex, Lublin
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  Housing estate, construction detail; Lublin; Czechów
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  Housing estate, construction detail; Lublin; Czechów
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  Concrete skyscrapers in a housing estate; Lublin; Czechów
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  Business center "Zeloyny Grad" ("Green City"), construction began in 1970 as a hotel, completed in 2004.
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  Royal National Theatre in London, UK
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  "Caterpillar" of residential blocks, an example of Polish communist architecture from the 1980s, Kozanów, Wrocław, Poland
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  Edificio situado en la localidad de A Estrada, Pontevedra, Galicia
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  Sesc Vila Mariana
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  Building of "Scientific Instruments" JSC, Saint Petersburg
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  Building of "Scientific Instruments" JSC, Saint Petersburg
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  Corner facade of SPSUACE dormitory, Saint Petersburg
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  Business center "Zeloyny Grad" ("Green City"), construction began in 1970 as a hotel, completed in 2004.
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  The building of the Zelenograd Prefecture (former city council), built in 1975
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  Arquitetura Brutalista na Avenida Paulista em 2025
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  Museu de Arte de São Paulo- MASP em 2025
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  Brutalismo na Avenida Paulista
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  Ceiling of the Basilica of the Madonna delle Lacrime, Centered
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  Ceiling of the Basilica of the Madonna delle Lacrime
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  Underside Of a School Building
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  Centre Point, London
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  Kirche Zum Guten Hirten Ulm Böfingen
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  Kirchturm Marienkirche (Laupheim) bei Ulm
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  Marienkirche (Laupheim) bei Ulm
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  Marienkirche (Laupheim) bei Ulm
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  Iona Towers, Wellington (New Zealand). Constructed 1971–75.
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  Lublin; Old Town; Fish Gate
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  Part of the northwestern façade of the Geisel Library at UC San Diego, CA, USA
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  Guandu Bridge observation tower in Bali ,New Taipei city
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  Soviet-era architecture in Bucharest
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  'Colon' building in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
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  'Colon' building in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
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  'Colon' building in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
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  Sporthalle Schwäbisch Gmünd
  Sports hall Schwäbisch Gmünd
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  katholische Pfarrkirche St. Michael in Schwäbisch Gmünd
  Catholic parish church of St. Michael in Schwäbisch Gmünd
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  Hradčanská Office Center in Prague, Czech Republic.
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  Hotel Thermal during the 54th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2019, Czech Republic.
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  CUBE Building in Prague, Czech Republic.
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  Prior Modřany department store in Prague, Czech Republic.
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  Brutalist-style pedestrian bridge, Geneva lake.
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  Water tower (1976) from Ahrensbök, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
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  VEB Interhotel ‘Kongreß’ Karl-Marx-Stadt, built in early 1970ies using slipform construction, now with glass and aluminium façade cladding
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  The "frappant", a multifunctional complex comprising offices, apartments and a shopping centre, built in 1974, one year before its demolition in 2011, Hamburg-Altona, Germany.
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  The town hall of Ahrensburg built in 1970, listed as historic monument in 2014, tower made of dark béton brut and facade with exposed aggregates of Italian pebbles
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  Old Soviet exhibition hall in Leipzig, Germany.
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  Basilica Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime, Syracuse, Sicily, Italy
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  Concrete fountain of Turtle Lake, Hồ Chí Minh City / Saigon, Vietnam
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  Prefabricated building at Vedado, Havanna, Cuba, 2009
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  Sports stadium grandstand of José Martí Stadium, Havanna, Cuba, 2009
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  Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York, 1969, currently digitized
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  Rear exterior of Yuan Ze University Building 5 at Yuan Ze University in Taoyuan ,Taiwan
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  New townhall in Pforzheim, Germany, built in 1973
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  Gandhi Bhawan at Chandigarh, India, 1989, currently digitized
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  Marina Towers, Chicago, Illinois, 1970, currently digitized
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  Chenggong Public Housings in Dang District, Taipei City
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  The old town hall of the municipality of Offenbach an der Queich
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  The old town hall of the municipality of Offenbach an der Queich
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  The old town hall of the municipality of Offenbach an der Queich
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  The old town hall of the municipality of Offenbach an der Queich
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  The Red House in Lublin
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  Wall of an old multi-family house
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  Red bricks in multi-family houses
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  Aspect of the new City Hall building in Thessaloniki, Greece
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  House of Culture in the Pokrovo-Prigorodnoe village, Russia
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  Katowice, Superjednostka
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  Štrbské Pleso, Hotel Panorama
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  Katowice, Superjednostka
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  Katowice, Haperowiec
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  Brutalism can be colorful.
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  Interior of St. Adalbert church in Świnoujście, Poland
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  Interior of St. Adalbert church in Świnoujście, Poland
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  beautiful brutalism in Metz
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  National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Japan
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  L' edificio che ospita l'Istituto giapponese di cultura a Roma, viene considerato un esempio di architettura brutalista che utilizzava il cemento armato, unita alle tipicità dell'architettura tradizionale giapponese.
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  Karl-Marx-Monument (Chemnitz) und das Mercure-Hotel.
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  Гостиница «Дружба», Выборг ( построена в 1982 году) 2H1A5462WI
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  University of Winnipeg in a Blizzard the day Kobe Bryant died
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  The Hudson Bay Building in a vacant Downtown Winnipeg on the first day of the COVID-19 Pandemic lockdowns
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  St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg viewed from the river walk at The Forks
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  The Marlborough Hotel in downtown Winnipeg
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  Building in Winnipeg's Exchange District
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  Bank building in Winnipeg with Brutalist Architecture behind it
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  300 Main under construction in downtown Winnipeg
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  Fort Gary Apartments in Winnipeg behind the Fort Garry Hotel
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  The Oscar-Niemeyer-Haus in Berlin, Germany.
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  High-rise complex Am Stadtwall 10 in Delmenhorst, Germany.
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  Edificio in stile Brutalista in via Salaria a Roma (1970-1972)
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  Architettura Brutalista in via Salaria a Roma. Edificio tra via Salaria e via di Tor Fiorenza (1977)
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  Brutalist hotel Fairmont Golden Prague (formerly InterContinental) shortly after major reconstruction, Prague, Czechia
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  Decorative wall at Fairmont Golden Prague hotel (formerly InterContinental), Prague, Czechia
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  Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, a concert hall in Japan
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  Night view of Kondareddy fort
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  Lille Metro station Quatre Cantons - Grand Stade (France)
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  1. Karl-Marx-Monument (1971). Der Entwurf stammt von dem sowjetischen Bildhauer Lew Kerbel. 2. Hinterliegende Gebäude (1969). Chemnitz, Sachsen.
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  St. Nicholas catholic church, Hérémence, Valais, Switzerland
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  The "Manhattan" estate in Wrocław: residential and commercial complex, built in 1970, Grunwaldzki Square, Wrocław, Poland
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  The ZREMB office building in Wrocław, an example of brutalist functional architecture of the communist era in Poland, Traugutta Street 1-7, Wrocław, Poland
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  Catholic Church of St. James in Darmstadt-Kranichstein
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  Exterior of Villa Cavrois (Croix), France.
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  Entrance structure of the Sutjeska Memorial Complex (Monument to the Battle of Sutjeska), Tjentište, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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  1980s apartment buildings along Jintai Road.
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  Nguyễn Thiện Thuật, in Hô Chi Minh-Ville, Vietnam.
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  Nguyễn Thiện Thuật, in Hô Chi Minh-Ville, Vietnam.
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  Tamkang Church Tamhai sanctuary. The Church of fair-faced concrete architecture in Tamsui Dist., New Taipei City
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  Hochschule Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany
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  Cergy Préfecture, Cergy-Pontoise, France
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  Cergy Préfecture, Cergy-Pontoise, France
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  A person exits Boston City Hall.
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  To submit your photos please click here

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